Review: ‘The Bikeriders’ Provides A Stellar Showcase For Jodie Comer On 4K UHD And Blu-ray
by David Lewis
The Bikeriders — new on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and digital — arrives at the peak of over-saturated blockbuster summer fare, but provides a quieter kind of escape, and defies expectations thanks largely to thoughtful performances from Tom Hardy, Austin Butler, and Jodie Comer.
The film creates a fictional story around a real 1968 book of photographs and interviews by Danny Lion, who tagged along with a motorcycle club called the Vandals in and around Chicago during the mid-1960s. Writer-director Jeff Nichols (Mud, Loving) extends the timeline into the early 1970s, and adds a quasi-love triangle between club leader Johnny (Hardy), his younger lieutenant Benny (a stoic but effective Butler), and Benny’s wife Kathy (Comer).
The first half of the film is primarily through the eyes of Kathy, and is told in snippets from interviews with Lion, here played by Challengers‘ Mike Faist. This is where the movie really shines, with Comer (Killing Eve) stealing every scene she’s in using her studied extreme Chicagoland accent and kooky mannerisms.
Kathy is at first amused by the club’s antics and drawn to their largely non-threatening outsider status. Johnny leads the group less like a Hell’s Angel than a bored middle-aged suburban dad emulating Marlon Brando in 1951’s seminal biker movie The Wild One. It allows Hardy to add yet another weird voice to his repertoire, sounding like a Muppet-ized take on young Brando. The Vandals curse, drink, and fight, but keep relatively on the up-and-up. Things don’t stay that way for long, though. Just as the soundtrack gives way from comfortably rebellious ’50s doo-wop and ’60s girl group tunes to the more anarchic late ’60s sounds of The Sonics and The Stooges, their scene is shaken up by the Vietnam War, the rise of hard drugs, and new club members whose brutally violent tactics inevitably lead to ruin.
The result is a film which is much more entertaining in its first half, but whose slower, more deliberate and darker second half leaves a lasting impression exploring loss, grief, and the feeling of being left behind.
Boyd Holbrook, Beau Knapp, and Nichols regular Michael Shannon play supporting bikers, who each get their own distinct personalities despite brief screen time. Norman Reedus, often seen cycling around The Walking Dead franchise, also pops up in a small but memorable role where he sports a massive wig and beard that make him look like a ’70s Jack Kirby creation.
Nichols’ dry but insightful solo audio commentary is the highlight of the disc’s extras. He dissects the film’s extensive period details, including getting the cast to ride dangerous vintage bikes without helmets, and endlessly rhapsodizes about Lion’s book. He also gives a great amount of credit for the film’s success to the lead actors, cinematographer Adam Stone, and the film’s costumers, art department, and stunt team. The disc’s other bonus features are barely worth watching. Three featurettes, which run between three and five minutes, go behind the scenes with the cast and crew, but Hardy’s not even present! All the information parceled out is better said in Nichols’ commentary.
The Bikeriders is now streaming on Peacock, and will be available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on August 13th.
